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Wednesday, January 1, 1997

Sushi Rice

Most people think sushi rice is just normal cooked rice, but it takes a bit of work. Getting your sushi rice right is a crucial element in successful sushi making!

Ingredients
(yields enough rice for doing 10 nori rolls or rice balls)
If you do not have a Japanese rice cooker, you must get one! As far as rice, I recommend the following brands: Kokuho Rose, Tamaki Gold, Tamanishiki, Nozomi and Yume.

3 cups rice
1/3 cup vinegar (10% of the rice)
2-4 tbsp white sugar (2 is plenty, 3 is pretty sweet, 4 I find too sweet)
1 tsp salt

Wash and Cook Rice
Wash the rice several times until the water runs fairly clear when draining. Let your wash rice strain for 30 minutes. (not totally necessary). Transfer the rice to your pot or Japanese electric rice cooker and add the measured water.

For electric rice cookers, turn on and wait for rice to finish cooking. Why do it any other way!

Make the Sushi Vinegar
Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture on low until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let your sushi vinegar cool to room temperature.

Mix and Cool
The traditional bowl to use is the flat-bottomed wooden sushi oke or hangiri. The porous wood absorbs excess moisture and the large surface allows the rice to cool more quickly and evenly. I use a rectangular glass or porcelain cake pan.

Put the hot rice into your mixing bowl and add 1/4 of the sushi vinegar solution. Mix with a folding motion so as to not smash your perfect sushi rice. Repeat until all sushi vinegar is used. The quicker the rice cools, the better. I mix the rice around in front of an open window in cool weather – you can also fan the rice to cool it – this is an important step to remove excess moisture and create a glossy shine to your rice. Your rice should have a slight chewiness and be sticky to the touch. When the rice is room temperature, you’re ready to rock and roll.